Tow baling method



1960 E. G. GUENTHER ETAL 2,

TOW BALING METHOD v Original Filed July 20. 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 PRIORART Edgar G. Guenllzer JohnW Smiih IN VEN TORS Aug. 2, 1960 E. c.GUENTHER ET AL 2,947,241

- TOW BALING METHOD Original Filed July 20, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2EdgarGGuenlher Johan. Smifh INVENTORY Aug. 2, 1960 Tow BALING METHODOriginal Filed July 20, 1955 Fig 7 E. G. GUENTHER ETAL 4 Sheets-Sheet 3I Edgar Gfiuenllzer J ohnw Smith jNfl-INTORS 1960 E. G. GUENTHER ET AL2,947,241

' TOW BALING METHOD Original Filed July 20. 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4EdgarGGuenlher J ohnH. Smith INVENTORS United e MQ *TOW BALINGMETHODEager G. Guenthermuohn w. Smith, Kingsport, Term, ass'ignors to EastmanKodak' Company, Rochester,

N.Y., a corporation of- New' Jersey Griginal" applicatiom July 20, 1955, Ser. ,No.; 523,270; Dividedand this-applicationJan. 4-, 1957, Ser.-No.'

The present invention relates tothe' packaging and using of yarn, andmore particularly to the packaging of artificialyarn of the-contiriiidits filament types that are formed'into tow ww'hrcn acrirnphas been-added. This af division of the applicants cop'ending.application 523,270, fil'edJuly'ZO, 1"955. a

- In'the' tradetheword 'tow describes a'product comprised or severalends of continuous"filaments broilght 'togth'erfto form a ropelike,mass. The size 'of-the' tow is usually 'from"25, to 2,000,000 denier.In the process of manufacturing tow, a crimp is-usually. imparted to thetow. This crimp is formed in such amanner as tocause thetow to conformto a ribbon shape of re'ctangular cross-section, eg. x 2" for 100,000denier;

' The method of packaging, with which the present invention'is concernedmay be best described as baling. V The general idea is todirect thetowinto-a conventional haling press in such a manner as torform a squareprism package or bale acceptable-as a supply package for subsequent towusage. I s

, The present invention has as its. principal object the provision of anew and improved tow bale and .a mechanism for the formation thereof.

"Yet another object of thewinvention-is the provisionar a; baled tow inwhich the tow is packaged under zero tension so that there is .no changein the crimp of the tow.

'Still another object of the invention is an arrangernent by which thetow is traversed in its passage to the baler to vprovidea uniformpattern in tow bales so that the-tow may be withdrawn from the baleunder low tension arid without tangling. V 1

And yet another object of the invention is the provision of a.highdensity tow bale. And another object of the invention is the'provisionof a tow. bale in which the tow can be drawn from the bale without theuse ofcreals or mandrels.

0 And still another object of the invention is thezforma tion of' abaled tow in which twist is not added to the tow duringpackaging orwithdrawing. I

. A further object of'the invention is the provision of an arrangementwhich permits continuous flowof the tow yet allowing intermittentoperation of thebalingpress to bale layersoftow into a high densitybale. During the pressing-out operation the continuously movingtow isstored in=- properly arranged layers ready 'to be delivered tothe pressatthecompletion of the previous,pressing-out operalion; 7 i

a still-further object'of the invention is the' provisionof an'ovelmeans to "secure the tow pattern in the bale. 1

Finally, another object of the invention is the provision of abale-forming mechanism which is simple in structure, comprisesfew partsof ruggeddesigmeasy to operate and highly eiiectivein-use;

To theseand otherendsthe invention resides in certain improvementswandcombinations of parts, all as willbe hereinafter more fully described,the novel features being pointed outzin ;theclaims at '=the;-en'dofthespecificationn Inthe drawings: a V 2 Fig. 1 isa ball'warpedarrangeme'nt' of windingftownsed' Patented. Aug. 2, 19.60

prior to the present invention;

desired pattern in thebale, and balingthe patterned I v Fig.4 is asideelevation view ofthe' spreader bin.) and the mechanism foroscillatingthelaft'er. v Fig.5 is a side view of'the spreader binshowing the location of the freely movable depending deflector lips,

and the manner in'which the latterdeflect the tow;

' Fig. 6 shows how the 'tow will'be laid unevenly in the.

' press without the use 'ofthe deflecting lips of the spreader bin, thehold-up doors being omitted on the hold -up bin for thepurpose ofclarity;

f Fig. 7 shows. an evenly laid tow in the press when the deflecting lipsare used on the spreaderbin, the hold-up doors being omitted for thepurpose of clarity;

Fig Q8 shows one arrangement for operating the holding,

doors at the bottom of-thehold-u-p bin;

Fig. 9 shows a modified arrangement for operating thehold up doors "forthe hold up bin;

'Fig. 1.0 shows the means fortraversingfthe :tow inthe direction of thelength of thebale :or in thedirection. of

the axes ofthe feedrolls;

Fig. 11 shows the pattern of one layer, the top layer...

offthe tow .in the tow bale and illustratesthe ease with which the towmay be withdrawn from the hale under low tension without tangling,,theleft end of the layer being connected to the underlying layer, whiletheright end ofithe layer has a tag connected thereto to facilitate findingthe free end of the tow in the bale; and,

Fig. 12 is a partial view of a completed tow bale.

Similar reference numerals throughout the various views indicate thesame parts.

Fig. .1 of the drawings shows a ball warp arrangement 20 for winding towor similar yarn, prior to the presentinvention; while Fig. .2 shows acardboard container 21". in whichapair of ball warps were packaged forshipping; Thedensity of the ball warp is 9.35 pounds per cubic:

foot. 'In order to form a more compactpackage, the tow bale of thepresent invention wasdeveloped. This bale arrangement has a density of28.4 pounds per .cubic foot. It is thus seen that the baled tow permitsthe storing and/ or shipping of approximately 200% more towincany givenarea. Also, the packaging and labor :costs' are re duced considerably inthe case of a baled tow.

The essentialfeatures of the present invention include: (1) the feedrolls with the tow transverse" mechanism; (2) the spreader bin with its.freely swinging deflector lips; (3.) the hold-up bin with its rockableor movable trap doors; (4) the conventional 'baling press,

all of which Referring now' to Fig. 3, the tow, in-tlhei'ormeta ribbon,is drawn from a previous 'pro'c'essingnnit liy means of "a pair ofrotating draw or feedrolls 23. ahead of the rolls, the tow 22 passesthrough aslbt zil in a traversing guide 25. The latter isrigidly'conneoted -'l -he' latter-passes over 'a :pair of spaced;sprocketsniill. eachof which is rigidly connectedto shaft v31,, -.-atleast. one of which is rotated by means not' shown. -%'lihe-. sprockets.30. spaced from each; other to; obtain? ig. 2' shows a cardboardcontainer in which the 15511 warp ofiFig. l" was positioned forshipping. or delivering,

- 1 3 desired traverse distance for the guides 24, namely, the length ofthe tow bale 32, see Fig. 12.

As the tow 22 is discharged from the nip of the draw rolls 23, the towfalls into a downwardly tapered spreader bin, generally indicated by thenumeral 35. Due to the reciprocation of the guide 25 the tow will bedischarged or laid in folds along the length of the bin 35, or to theright and left as viewed in Fig. 3. Thus, the guide 25 will serve todistribute the tow lengthwise of the bin 35. However, to provide thedesired lay or pattern of the successive superimposed layers 36, seeFig. 11, of the tow in the bale 32, it is necessary also to move orreciprocate the tow 22 in a direction normal to that provided by thereciprocating guide 25. To secure this result, the spreader bin 35 ismounted for rocking or pivoting movement about a pair of aligned shafts37 which project laterally from the opposite end walls 38 of the bin 35.The supporting means for the shafts 37 are not shown, but may be of anysuitable construction and does not form a part of the present invention.Thus, the guide 25 reciprocates the tow in a direction parallel to theaxes of the rolls 23, while the rocking of bin 25 reciprocates the towin a direction normal to the roll axes. This dual movement of the towserves to lay the latter in reversing folds, as shown at 36 in Fig. 11.The rocking of the spreader bin 35 about shafts 37 is obtained by meansof a link 39, one end 40 of which is pivotally connected to an end wall38 of the bin 35 below shaft 37. The other end of link 39 is rotatedabout point 41 by a crank 42 of a gear reducer 43 driven by a belt 44from a motor 45. The above mechanism serves to rock bin 35 about 15 eachside of its vertical position.

Thus, the reciprocation of guide 25 and the rocking of the bin 35imparts a zigzag motion to the tow as the latter is discharged from thebin 35 so that the tow will be distributed in superimposed layers 36,each of which -lies substantially in a plane and is in no way interlacedor intermeshed with adjacent layers. This arrangement permits easy andready withdrawal of the tow from the bale at low tension and withouttangling.

The tow is discharged from the bin 35 and is laid in the above-describedpattern in a stationary hold-up bin 50. The successive layers 36 arebuilt up on the holdup bin while previously formed layers are beingpressed in a hydraulic press, generally indicated by the numeral 51, andlater to be more fully described. The hold-up bin 50 thus serves tocollect the layers 36 of the tow, and also enables the latter to be fedcontinuously yet permits intermittent operation of the press 51 to balethe tow.

As the tow is discharged into the hold-up bin 50, it is desirable tohave the layers arranged in flat relation, as shown in Fig. 7, ratherthan in concave relation as shown in Fig. 6. To obtain more positivecontrol over the tow lay, the spreader bin 35 is provided with a pair ofspaced vertical lips 52 which swing freely about bearing 53. The lips 52are free to rotate about bearing 53 so the lips will always hangvertically as shown in Fig. 5, irrespective of the angular position ofthe bin 35. Referring to Fig. it is seen that when the bin 35 is in itsextreme displaced position, the tow 22 discharged from rolls 23 slidesdown the left inclined side 54 of the bin 35 and is then deflecteddownward vertically by the lips 52, as shown in the solid lines of Fig.5. This arrangement gives the desired pattern to the lay as illustratedin Fig. 7. However, if the lips 52 are not used, the tow path wouldassume the position shown in the dotted lines of Fig. 5 and wouldprovide the pattern lay as shown in Fig. 6. This latter conditioninevitably results in trapped ends as the high side periodically fallsinward.

The two layers accumulate in the hold-up bin 50 while the previous groupis being baled in the press 51. In order to enable the tow layers toaccumulate in bin 50, the bottom of the bin is closed bya pair of'trapdoors 57 hinged at 58 on the bottom of bin 50, as clearly illustrated inFigs. 3, 8 and 9. When the previously baled package 32 is removed fromthe press 51, the upper platen 59 of the press is moved to the dottedposition, Fig. 3, by means to be later described. This movement of theplaten 59 opens the top of the press 51. The doors 57 are then moved totheir open or dotted position, shown in Fig. 3, allowing the laid layersin the hold-up bin to fall into the press 51. At this time sufficienttow has not been accumulated to form the desired size bale. However, thetow continues to be discharged from the spreader bin and falls throughthe hold-up bin 50 and builds up in the previously described layerpatterns 36 in the press 51 until the desired bale weight hasaccumulated in thepress 51'. At that time the doors 57 are again movedto closed position to cut off further supply of the tow to the press 51,and the tow layers then start to accumulate in the hold-up bin 50. Thus,the latter provides a temporary storage for the accumulation of the towwhile the previous bale of tow is being baled in the press, after whichthe doors 57 are opened and the tow is delivered directly to press 51.

The doors 57 may be opened and closed by any suitable mechanism; forexample, Fig. 8 shows an arrangement in which each hinged connection 58has secured thereto one end of a lever 60 the free end of which ispivotally connected at 61 to a crosslink 62. One of the hinges 58 alsohas secured thereto an operating lever 63, the free end of which isprovided with an operating handle 64. It will be apparent from aninspection of Fig. 8 that an upward movement of the handle 64 and lever63 will rock both hinges in the proper direction to swing the doors 57downward from their closed position, shown in the solid lines of Figs. 3and 8, to their open position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 3.

Another mechanism for operating the doors 57 is shown in Fig. 9, inwhich each hinge 58 carries a wormgear 65 which meshes with a worm 66carried by shaft 67 supported in bearing 68. The shaft 67 carries anoperating wheel 69. By rotating the latter, the hinges 58 may be rockedin the proper direction to open and close the doors 57.

When the upper platen 59 is moved to the dotted position, Fig. 3, thetow is fed directly to the press 51. After the required amount of towhas been accumulated in press 51, the platen 59 is then moved to itsfull line position shown in Fig. 3, and the new bale started in thehold-up bin 50. The tow extending between the bin 50 and the press 51 iscut, and each end is placed in its respective bale. However, the end inthe press has attached thereto an identifying tag 76 to facilitate readyand easy location of the free end of the tow in the bale, when thelatter is opened by the user. After the free end is tagged, and placedin the bale in the press, a hydraulic piston 85 at the bottom of thepress is moved upward and cooperates with the stationary platen 59 tocompress the tow layers to form the high density bale. The latter, as iscommon practice, is enclosed in any suitable wrapper which is placed inthe press prior to the opening of doors 57. However, as this featureforms no part of the invention, details thereof are not deemed'necessary. Also, as is common practice with baled materials, the !balemay have a plurality of metal toenforcing bands 77 which also do notform a part of the present invention. After the bale has been pressed tothe proper size in the press, a door 78 hinged at 79 is opened and thepressed bale removed. The proper bale covering is then placed in thepress and the platen 59 withdrawn and the doors 57 opened to dischargethe accumulated laid layers in bin 50 into the press 51 for the nextbaling operation.

The platen 59 may be arranged in the manner illustrated in Fig. 7, whichshows the platen fastened by suitable fastening means to the lowermember 81 of a U-shaped yoke which is mounted so that it is free to movein the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 7. Four anti-frictionrollers 82 support the upper mem-- ber 83 of the yoke 80 to permit theyoke tobe moved.

by hand power. A similar arrangement, not shown, is connected to theopposite ends of the platen 59.

Thus, the tow has imparted thereto a dual reciprocating motion whichserves to lay the tow in a zigzag pattern or layers in the hold-up bin50, the tow strip being folded upon itself, at the edges of the bale, asshown at 84, Fig. 11. After the previous baling operation has beencompleted, the accumulated layers in hold-up bin 50 are dropped into thepress 51, and the laying operation continues until the proper baleweight has been accumulated in press 511. The tow in the press is thencompressed to form the baled tow 32, see Fig. 12. The various layers 36lie substantially in separate planes and are not intermeshed orinterengaged with adjacent layers. On the contrary, the layers, even ofthe compressed bale, are in laminated relation so that when each layeris uncovered it may be easily and readily removed Mth very littletension and without tangling. The various layers are connected at theirends to adjacent layers, the top and bottom layers each of course havingonly one end connected to an adjacent layer. The free end of the tow inthe top layer is provided with an identification tag of facilitatelocating the free end when the bale is opened. The described mechanismfor forming the layers enables the tow to be packaged under zero tensionand without causing any change in the tow crimp. Also, the arrangementof the layers in laminated form permits the tow to be withdrawn easilyand readily from the bale in a continuous strand under low tension andwithout tangling.

The present invention thus provides a new and im proved baled tow, andthe mechanism for building up the bale. Furthermore, the tow is fedcontinuously while the baling operation is intermittent, means beingprovided to store a portion of the baled material during a pressing-outoperation. The mechanism for forming the bales is simple, easy tooperate, rugged and highly effective in use.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to beunderstood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a number ofways. Therefore, this application is not to be limited to the precisedetails described herein, but is intended to cover all variations andmodifications thereof falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What We claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. The method of baling tow comprising, feeding a strand of towcontinuously, collecting the tow in super imposed loose layers ofuniform pattern at one position until a portion only of a bale of looselayers has accumulated at said one position, transferring theaccumulated portion of loose layers as a unit to a compressing point,laying additional loose layers on said portion at said point until apredetermined amount of tow has been accumulated at said point, thencompressing the predetermined amount into a bale at said point whilesimultaneously collecting succeeding lengths of said tow in loose layersat said one position to form a succeeding bale portion.

2. The method of baling tow comprising, the steps of continuouslyfeeding a strand of tow while imparting a dual horizontal movement tothe tow as it is fed so as to lay the tow in superposed loose layers ofuniform pattern, accumulating at a first position a quantity of saidsuperposed loose layers sufficient to form only a portion of a bale;transferring said portion of a bale to a second position, continuing thefeed and dual movement of said tow to said second position during andafter transfer of the bale portion until a predetermined amount of towhas been accumulated at said second position, then transferring the feedof tow back to said first position after cutting the same, between saidpositions, and compressing the predetermined amount of two deposited atsaid second position into a finished halo.

3. The method of baling tow comprising the steps of continuously feedinga strand of tow vertically downward while imparting a dual horizontalmovement to the tow as it is fed vertically so as to lay the tow insuperposed loose layers of uniform pattern, accumulating a quantity ofsaid superposed loose layers to form only a portion of a bale at a firstposition arranged in vertical alignment with the fed tow, transferringsaid portion of a bale to a second position'arranged below andvertically aligned with said first position, continuing the verticalfeed and dual movement of said tow to said second position during andafter the transfer of the bale portion until a predetermined amount oftow has been accumulated at said second position, then transferring thefeed of tow back to said first position, cutting the strand between saidpositions, and finally compressing the predetermined amount of towdeposited at said second position to form a finished compressed bale.

4. Bale packaging method for continuous filament tow comprising thesteps of continuously feeding the tow to a lay pattern forming area,moving the tow continuously as a strand running downwardly from thepattern forming area by gravity, while simultaneously continuouslychanging the position of the longitudinal axis of the downwardly movingtow by compound oscillation of the point of discharge of the tow fromthe pattern forming area, thereby establishing a bale lay pattern,presenting a stationary, substantially horizontal, temporary supportingsurface for reception of the downwardly moving tow in the lay pattern ina position above a baling area, bringing the downwardly moving tow torest in the lay pattern on said temporary supporting surface, and, bythe continued feeding of tow in the lay pattern to said temporarysupporting surface, accumulating thereon superposed loose layers of thetow, thereby forming a portion of a bale resting on said supportingsurface,

removing the temporary surface from its tow supporting position and awayfrom the accumulated bale portion, thereby dropping such accumulatedportion by gravity, presenting a stationary, substantially horizontal,permanent supporting surface for reception of the dropped portion in thebaling area, continuing the accumulation of tow in the desired laypattern in superimposed loose layers during and after the drop of theaccumulated portion to the permanent support, until a predeterminedamount of tow, sufiicient for a full bale, has been accumulated,thereupon discontinuing the movement of additional tow to the towaccumulated in the baling area by severing the tow at a point adjacentthe surface of the tow accumula tion and directing the thus-formed newlength of downwardly moving tow to said temporary supporting surfaceabove the baling area, and compressing and baling the accumulated fu-llbale amount in the baling area while continuing the downward movement ofthe new length of tow to said temporary support above the baling area.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS475,117 Ivens May 17, 1892 715,787 Griifin Dec. 16, 1902 769,692 DaviesSept. 13, 1904 965,561 Butler July 26, 1910 1,857,707 Bell May 10, 19322,403,311 Steele July 2, 1946 2,468,834 Nash May 3, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS109,551 Austria May 10, 1928 SE L Arte in ERNEST Wo SWIDER DAVID L, LADDAttesting Officer Commissioner of Patents UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECERTIFICATION OF CORRECTION Patent No, 2,947,241 August 2, 1960 Edgar GoGuenther et al,

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patentrequiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read ascorrected below.

In the drawings, Sheet 2, in Figs 3, the arrow which illustrates thedirection of rotation of the righthand (as one views the drawing) rollof the pair of feed rolls 23 should show rotation in a counterclockwisedirection rather than a clockwise direction; in the printedspecification, column 2, line 53, ior "transverse" read traverse column3, line 70, and column 6, line 2, for "two", each occurrence read towSigned and sealed this 25th day of April 1961.

